The new album by The Orb, Abolition of The Royal Familia, has been a bit of an opinion splitter. For some it's a return to the halcyon days of Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld and U.F.Orb, a sprawling four sides of vinyl, dub house odyssey. There are, for some people, some issues with the running order and the first few songs which seem very out of step with the rest of the album but on the whole it's been very well received. One thing is certain for me- the penultimate song, the twelve minute bliss of The Weekend It Rained Forever- Oseberg Buddha Mix (The Ravens Have Left The Tower)- is something that I cannot get enough of. It has some recurring echoes of and themes from the Blade Runner soundtrack and Roger Eno's piano playing is perfect. My only concern is that it will forever in my mind be associated with the lockdown and everything that goes with it.
The previous album (No Sounds...) starts with what I feel is the Orb doing their version of a pop song, I really like it and the rest of that album. That is possibly why I didn't find the start of the new album jarring. The new album definitely has elements of earlier Orb and also seems to be still creating new styles and sounds.I'm listening to alot of Ord stuff at the moment and I still keep going back to Abolition Of...
ReplyDeleteI've been a fan since Adventures Beyond...and I just love their last album. It's different from the few last ones, but it's still the Orb's magical music.
ReplyDeleteJake- I've fluctuated with NSAOOB, at first I thought it was good but I've not found it one that's stuck with me. Abolition is generally much, much better and there's plenty in ti I keep going back to. And I agree with naguiar2003, its got some real moments of magic.
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